Dashira Del Rosario Reflection 3

In Marilyn Frye’s “Oppression”, Frye explains how a birdcage symbolizes the systematic oppression of women. Frye explains that if you look at a single wire in a birdcage, you can’t understand why the bird can’t just fly around the wire and be free. But if you step back and look at the cage as a whole system of entwined cables, you realize that the bird has no chance of escaping because of all the barriers in its way (Frye). It is exactly the same with women. When someone tries to see the oppression of women. they only look at a problem women face, refuse to step back and see that there is no reason for their oppression. If they instead looked at all the obstacles women face at once, they would ultimately see that women cannot escape oppression without the continued efforts of everyone involved in oppression, including sexist women and men who oppress.The article “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack” was written to educate the reader about white privilege and male privilege. He argues that men don’t necessarily realize they have an advantage over women, just as white people don’t always realize they are more privileged than black people. Author Peggy McIntosh painstakingly describes that just by being born white, you automatically have an advantage over someone who was not born white. She also explains that men actually recognize the status of women in the world and will do certain things to improve it. However, they are not willing to do anything to diminish their own privilege. The article provides a list where all statements are conditions in which spaces are kept. In today’s society I feel that there are fewer male privileges than before. Women can now pursue careers previously denied them, such as politics. Although they can pursue such careers, there is still a big difference between the salaries of women and men. When it comes to white privilege, I agree and disagree with a few points McIntosh made in the article. Personally, I have never seen myself as an unfairly advantaged person or an oppressor.

Leave a Reply